Good things come to those who wait. It took nearly the entire final day, but New Zealand clinched a memorable 167-run victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo to end a 10-month winning drought.

Trent Boult took the final wicket of a defiant Angelo Mathews in the 86th over, dismissing Sri Lanka for 195 as New Zealand roared back from a 10-wicket defeat in Galle to square the two-test series at P Sara Oval.

It also ended a grim five-test losing streak and gave coach Mike Hesson his first success after a rough introduction.

"It was tough after losing so comprehensively in Galle but the way we trained and the way we prepared for this match and the way the players stepped up, every single one of them, it was a credit to them. We'll treasure this moment for a while,'' said captain Ross Taylor who was named man of the match.

Mathews defied the bowlers in a knock of 84 off 228 balls before he was last out, swinging wildly.

There were several New Zealand stars but the new ball pair of Boult and Tim Southee shone brightest, under Shane Bond's tutelage.

They took 15 wickets between them, Boult 7-75 for the match and Southee 8-120.

At 23, Southee is at the peak of his powers as the pace spearhead and left-armer Boult was an outstanding foil.

As Southee tired late in the day, Boult kept charging in and consistently topped 140kmh, then finished the job with the second new ball.

Test centuries and bags of wickets usually win tests; and New Zealand had seen precious few of either in a gloomy 2012.

Taylor responded to the barbs directed at him and his team with two captain's knocks, 142 and 74, to give his bowlers something to aim at.

With runs on the board, captaincy becomes so much simpler.

He had excellent backup from Kane Williamson who emerged from a lean trot with his third test ton, and five catches including two brilliant efforts at gully.

"We got a lot of stick during the week and I was very determined to get out there and put a competitive total on the board. Kane Williamson helped me out and 400 was very competitive. We fought hard over all five days,'' Taylor said.

"We knew if we put the ball in the right areas for long enough [on the final day] we gave ourselves a chance and we certainly did that and held our catches, there were some stunners out there.''

The plunder at P Saravanamuttu might not be greeted with the same hysteria as the Bellerive boilover, nearly a year ago, but it was the better victory.

The Hobart test was played on a green seamer, a great leveller.

To topple Sri Lanka in Colombo's heat and humidity, on a docile pitch against a powerful batting lineup boasting Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene was some effort.

Yesterday's task seemed relatively straightforward given the way New Zealand had taken the first 14 Sri Lankan wickets.

They had 98 overs to snare six more scalps, including the tailenders. But nothing is ever simple with this team.